


Los Tres

by Natasha_Salvato



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Homophobic Language, Internalized Biphobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-20 07:52:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8241904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natasha_Salvato/pseuds/Natasha_Salvato
Summary: Teresa, Thomas and Newt are childhood friends, but for a long time Teresa hides a crush on Thomas, just when she thinks she has a shot with him, she finds out a secret that may change everything. Mainly her friendship with Newt.





	1. Part I

Teresa was in her bedroom studying for a important biology exam, but she couldn’t really focus on what she was reading as she kept thinking about Thomas, she looked a a picture of them with Newt that she had over the table, they were just ten years old and looked so happy, they promised to be friends forever and she believe they would be able to keep it, but it was getting hard with the feelings that she hided, she wanted to tell Thomas how she felt, but she didn’t know how and as everyday Thomas showed up with a different girl, she was fine with being his platonic friend, that made her different from the others.

Newt family was from London, his family moved to Teresa and Thomas’s neighboorhood when he was nine, he had a mix of british and american accent that made they laugh when he got super excited over something. Teresa and Thomas’s mothers were friends from highschool, they knew each other since they were babies.

Her phone started to ring, it was Newt.

“Hi”

“Are you busy?”, he asked.

“Kind of, why?”

“Minho got alchool for us and we are having a party here at Alby’s”

“Really? It sounds fun”

“It’s crazy, Brenda just thowed at the fireplace”

Teresa laughs. She bites her lips wondering if she should ask, she decides to.

“Is Thomas there?”

“You think he would miss a party? He is making out with a random in the corner”

She is upseted to hear that, but can’t let it show. She thinks for a while.

“I guess I can take a few hours out, but I need to be back before midnight”

“No worries, pumpkin, I give you a lift”

“Aren’t you drinking?”

He stays in silent for a while.

“Okay, you drive”, he chuckles.

She takes the coat and leaves without her parents notice. When she arrives there’s a group of boys running around in their underwear.

Newt is sitting by the pool smoking pot.

“Hey, pumpkin”

“Hi, stoner”, she joked.

“Want some?”

“No, I have to keep my brain functioning if I want go well on the exam”

“That’s how I keep my brain fuctioning”, he grins.

“Where is Tom?”

“Probably in some of the bedrooms, you know how he is like”

“Yeah”, she lowered her head.

“Want drink?”

“Just one”

Hours later, Teresa was throwing up at the bathroom while Newt holded her hair.

“I told you shouldn’t mix tequila with vodca, it’s poison”

“I know... Now”, she throws up again.

“Are you okay?”, he asks worried.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine”, she sit by the toilet. “I hope”

“Your parents can’t see you like that, they’ll kill me”

“They won’t, I just need a time and I’ll go back to normal”

“I will try to find coke, I heard it’s good to when you exagerated on the drink”

“What type?”

“Stay here, I’ll be back soon, close the door and don’t open it to anyone, okay?”

“Okay”, he leaves and just like he said he came back just a few minutes later with a glass of coke.

She drank it and it did make her feel better. She blurps.

“Sorry”

“No worries”, he laughs.

Newt sits by her side.

“Do you feel better now?”

She looks around.

“A little, how did I get here?”

“With my help, ah, by the way, you and Alby’s sofa pillow? OTP”

“Oh, I can’t believe, I really did make out with it?”

“You went for it, girl”

“No, I was hoping it was a alucination, so humiliating”

”I don’t think anyone will remember what happened”

“But I’ll. I hope there’s no pictures to post on facebook”

“I wouldn’t count on that”

“And Thomas saw it?”

“No, he left”

“Did him?”

“With Brenda”

“Of course”

“She is a regular”

“I can’t really see it, she is so... Her and he is... Him" "So eloquent", Newt joked. "He can do better, they both can”

“I know he doesn't likes her, not for real, she is just pretty for him”

“Boys”

“Yeah, we are awful”

“Not you, you are different”

“How so?”

"In the best way!"

"Thanks"

“I hate myself sometimes”

“Why?”

“Because of how I feel, I wish I could control it, make it stop. I just love him so much”, she starts to cry.

“Who are you talking about? Tommy?”

“I always have since we were kids, but I never said anything because I was afraid he didn’t feel the same and now it just hurts so much. Do you think I’ll ever get over him?”

“T., you are a great girl, you’ll find someone that loves you like you deserve it”

“But it won’t be him, right? He doesn’t like me that way”

“I would be surprised if he did”

She looks at him and starts to laugh, she lays on his lap.

“You are so mean, that was so mean”

“I didn’t mean like that, it’s just...”, he stops talking.

She looks up.

“It’s just what?”

“Nothing, you know how he is. You can’t really expect much from him”

“I know, I don’t. But my fucking heart doesn’t seem to see it”

“Do you want go home?”

“Yeah, I have humilated myself enough for tonight. Promise me something?”

“What?”

“If you remember that conversation tomorrow, just pretend you don’t, okay?”

“Okay”, he caress her head.

The next day

The next day Teresa wakes up with a killer headache, she really wished she could erase last night, hopefully she doesn’t remember much. When she looks at the clock she is almost late for the school, she gets up quickly and start to get dressed.

“Good morning, young lady, we thought you wouldn’t get up anymore”, her mother says. “Are you okay? You look green”

“I’m fine. Dad, will you give me a ride to school?”

He looks at his watch.

“Yes. Do you need to take anything else?”

“No, I’m ready!”

They leave.

At school Thomas and Newt seem to be arguing about something, but they stop when Teresa comes close. In class they exchange notes between, mostly just silly draws and dirty jokes, but there is a note they don't share with her and Thomas has a hopeful look in his eyes.

Before the exam.

“My head is killing me, how can you do that? Aren’t you hangover?”

“I have my tricks”, he shudders.

“Do you think you will do fine at the exam?”, Newt asks.

“I hope so, I studied like crazy”

“I didn’t study at all, but I have a good memory”, Thomas brags.

“You always get good grades, it’s trully not fair”, Newt says.

“I told you, just listen to what the teacher says, it’s way easier than try to understand thousands of textbooks”

“I prefer to read, helps me to remember things more easily”, Teresa says.

“That’s because you are a nerd”, he whispers to her.

She playfully slaps his arm.

“Shut up!”

He laughs. 

“Can I take a look on your notes?”, Newt asks.

“Sure”, she gives him her notebook.

The school bell rings. Gally pass by running and pushes Newt.

“Bloody hell!”, Newt exclaims looking at his books on the floor.

“What a jerk”, Teresa says. She helps Newt get his things from the floor and so does Thomas.

“Here’s your notebook, thanks”, he handles her notebook.

“No problem”, she says.

They go to their classes. Teresa observes Thomas through the exam, he looks so pretty from that angle and the way he frows his eyebrows while he reads the questions, it’s just so endearing. She knows she should be focusing more on her own exam, but it was hard to take her eyes away from him.

After school they go to the park that is barely frequented anymore. They go to the swings and play around.

“So, did you nail it?”, Newt asks.

“I think so, it wasn’t that hard, but a lot of stuff I studied weren’t even mentioned”

“The teacher tries to scary us off, but if you listen to what he explains, it’s pretty much that, I’m sure I got a good grade”, Thomas says.

“I stole some aswers from Minho, I hope he did study”, Newt says, they laugh.

“Will you go to the Garage tonight?”, Thomas asks Newt.

“I don’t know, maybe”

Thomas looks upset.

“What will happen at the Garage?”, Teresa asks.

“Nothing, I just want to go there tonight”, Thomas says.

Thomas and Newt always did that, excluded Teresa from some of their plans, but she tried to not over think it, but it did make her feel bad not to be included, after all it was her and Thomas before Newt came.

“I’ll see if my father will let me leave tonight, he wasn’t very happy by the time I arrived yesteday”

“Sorry about that, it wouldn’t take you so long if you didn’t have to take me home”

“It’s okay, I guess we were just lucky that I didn’t drink that much”

“The party was great, wasn’t it?”, Thomas coment.

“From what I remember, it was pretty average”, Teresa says.

“How could you tell if you spend most of the time inside Brenda’s mouth? Did it taste like vomit?”, News provokes him.

“You are just jealous!”, Thomas says sticking his tongue out.

“What? Newt has a crush on Brenda?”

Newt and Thomas look at each.

“Of course not. He is joking”, Newt sounds serious.

Thomas doesn’t say anything. Teresa felt a awkwarkness in the air, but decided to ignore it.

***

Teresa is in her bedroom doing her homework, she is going through her notebook when she finds a note.

“Sorry for being a idiot, please, meet me at the Garage and I promise I’ll make it up to you. – Thomas”

Her jaw drops, so Thomas knows about her feelings and he feels the same? She couldn’t believe, so that’s why he mentioned the Garage earlier? He was trying to make sure it would be just the two of them.

She got up and wore her best clothes, it was finally happening, she couldn’t believe it, by his words it seemed that he was serious and who knows, she may be the one to him.

“Where are you going so late?”, her mom stops her at the front door.

“I’ll go to Brenda’s, we will study for a test”

“Now?”

“She has been busy with her job, I promise I’ll be back soon”

“You better”

She leaves just thinking about what waits for her.

The Garage isn’t really a garage, it’s a parking lot that the teens use to meet because it’s next to a cemitery and no one goes there at night. It’s just a nice spot to hang out and go crazy, it even has a making out spot that’s behind a tree right at the darkest place there. Thomas probably was waiting for her there.

“Don’t be like that”, she hears Thomas voice.

She open a smile.

“How am I suppose to be when you act like that?”, it’s Newt’s voice now.

Her smiles fades.

“You know I’m not serious with Brenda”

“Why are you with her at all?”

“Because she is fun and the others start talking when I'm not with someone. You know how this parties are suppose to go”

“Are you worried that they will find out about us?”

Teresa can’t help but come closer.

“No, I just don’t think that they need to know”

“That you likes boys? Is that the problem?”

“What?”, Teresa whispers.

“I don’t like boys, I like you”, Thomas says, his voice sounds so soft.

“And I’m a boy, so what does that mean?”

“It means that you are special to me, you are my only one”, his voice sounds lower.

“You say that to everyone”

“But I only mean it when I say it to you”

She hears kissing noises. And it finally made sense, she borrowed her notebook to Newt take a look at her notes and he dropped it along with his, the note wasn’t for her, it was for him.

Things start to heat up between the boys and she decides to leave, wishing she had never come.


	2. Part II

Teresa can’t sleep that night, she can only cry and feel foolish, all this time Newt and Thomas were together behind her back and she never even suspected. Of course, they were, it was clear now, all the whisperes and the times that they would meet without her, the secrets that they kept from her.

She started to wonder if she wasn’t just a excuse that they used to spend more time together, is she even friends with them? Do they even deserve her friendship?

She was so angry, she didn’t want to, but she was, her face started to burn and she felt like her heart was going to explode. How very dare them? Use her like that? And to think she opened up to Newt about her feelings for Thomas, now it’s trully embarrassing, he probably laughed with Thomas about that.

The next day she didn’t want to get up, she didn’t want go to the school. But she had to, because she was a good student and her parents wouldn’t ever let her miss class.

“Hey”, Newt says with a smile.

“Hi”, she avoids looking at him.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, why?”

“You look weird, something happened?”

“No, not that I know of”

“Did I do something wrong? You sound angry at me”

“I’m not”, she tries to hold back the tears.

“So tell me what is going on”

“NOTHING”, she shouts, everyone looks at them. “Leave me alone, please!”

She leaves, Newt doesn’t understand it, but she wans’t going to explain it.

“My best friend is dating my other friend, I think, I don’t really know what they are, I just know that they have been making out behind my back and I was stupid enough to think that I knew them and that I could trust them, I even told Newt about my feelings for Thomas and he acted all nice, probably guilty because of what they have been doing to me”

She is sitting in one of the bathroom’s stalls, Brenda is doing her own make up in front of the mirror.

“So, Thomas is gay?”

“I don’t know, I don’t think so, he seems to really enjoy going out with you”

Brenda smiles.

“Good, I wouldn’t appreciate being used as a beard, at least not unwilling”

“I have being a beard, a emotional beard”, she says between tears.

“At least now you know the truth and can take revenge on them”

“How?”

“Outing them”

“I can’t out them, that wouldn’t be right”

Brenda scoffs.

“They used you, you said yourself, are they even you friends or are they just using you to spend more time together?”, it was like Brenda was reading her mind.

“I won’t out them, I feel hurt, but I’m not a bad person, I will not do something awful as that”

"But you just did, you just outed them to me"

"But you won't tell anyone, right?"

“I'm not the one with a vendetta, Thomas is cute, but we were never serious, now I know why”, Brenda goes back to focusing on herself. "But if I were you I wouldn't let that information go to waste, just saying", and she left at it. 

Two Days Later

At the school Thomas come to talk with Newt in the hall.

“Did you talk with Brenda?”, he asked.

“What? No, why?”

“She knows”

“What?”

“She knows and she is blackmailling me”

“How did she find out?”

“That’s what I want know”

“Shit”, Newt puts his hand over his head. “You know the note you wrote me? I lost it, she must have found it”

“Crap”

“What will you do now?”

“What can I do? Or I come out to the whole school or I pretend to be dating her until prom”

“You can’t do that, you can’t pretend to be dating her, you don’t even like her”

“You don’t have to tell me, but I can’t do anything about that. Newt, I can’t let the whole school find out about us”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t!”, Thomas goes away quickly as if to distance himself from Newt.

Teresa was listening to all that while hiding besides a locker, she felt bad because she knew that it was her fault, she told Brenda and now Brenda was using it against them.

Teresa enters the classroom, Newt is looking through his stuff, he seems worried.

“Hey”, she says.

“Hey”

“I’m sorry for my behaviour, I wasn’t feeling good, but I shouldn’t have treated you that way”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry if I was too noisy”

She chuckles.

“I don’t mind, I can be noisy too sometimes”, she observes the mess on his desk.

“What are you looking for?”

“Just a note, nothing important”

She tries to not look to obvious.

“Maybe you lost it, what was that about? I have my notes if you need it”

“No, it’s not from our classes, it’s personal”, he looks around. “You may be right, I probably lost it... whatever”

“I was thinking about us getting some ice cream after class”

“I would love to”

“Nice, but just us, no Thomas”

He looks confused.

“Sure, but why not?”

“Don’t you guys hang out by yourselves sometimes? So... Why can’t we do that too?”

“If you want to”, he smiles.

She goes to her chair and looks at the note she has hiden in her notebook. She would rip it apart and throw it away latter.

Later That Day

Teresa and Newt share a ice cream, he looks genuinelly upseted.

“Are you okay?”

“Sorry, I’m not really a good company”

“You and me both, right?”

“You didn’t even tell me what happened, why were you so angry before?’

“Because I’m stupid”

“Don’t say that”

“But it’s true”

“Well, I’m stupid too”

“You are not”

“I am, I’m so stupid that I did something really stupid and now my stupidity will get back at someone really close to me who is kind of stupid”

“I didn’t understand one thing of what you just said”

“It doesn’t matter, it’s not your fault”

It’s.

“Is everything fine between you and Tom?”

“You’ll hear it pretty soon, so I better tell you already. He is dating Brenda now”

”What? I thought they were not that serious?”

“They weren’t, but he kind of didn’t have a choice”

“Is she pregnant?”

“No, God, no”

“So, why didn’t him have a choice?”

She hoped that he would open up to her.

“Well, she got her way somehow”

“That isn’t right”

“I know”

“Maybe we could do something about that?”

“Do what?”

“Something”

“It’s his problem, not yours”

“He is our friend, we have to help him if he is in trouble”

“Who said he is in trouble?”

“He is dating Brenda, that in my book is trouble”

Newt laughs.

One Week Later

Brenda and Thomas are the “It” couple of the school and as they are close to the prom they already start to put up posters asking for votes.

Newt and Teresa just observe without really knowing what to do.

“If that’s pretending, he should be a actor”, Newt says as Thomas and Brenda passionally kiss.

“I feel bad for him, she is a terrible kisser”

“How do you know?”

“Spin the bottle?”

"Hi, guys", Thomas and Brenda come talk with them.

“I have to go”, Newt looks like he is about to throw up.

“See you in class”, Teresa says feeling sorry for him, but not being able to do anything.

Thomas and Brenda stay in silent. Teresa wished she could do something, but Thomas didn't look like he wanted help.

In class, Thomas and Brenda laugh and kiss getting all the attention, Newt roll his eyes, he stands up and it seems like he is leaving, but instead he cleans his throat caughing everyone attention.

“I just want say something, in case there’s still doubt”, Thomas eyes are wide open. “I’m gay”, he says. “I always heard a talk about my sexuality and I didn’t really mind and I don’t, but just to end the discussion, yes, I like boys, whatever you want call it I’m proud of it”

He sits back again. Teresa smiles.

“Well, congratulations Mister Notwen” the teacher says ironically. “Can we go back to pay attention to the class... Brenda, Thomas, easy on the PDA, it’s math, not anatomy”

The class laughs.

“Fagg*t”, Gally pretends to sneeze.

“Silent or will I have to send some of you to the principal’s office?”

Newt keeps his head up, Thomas barely look at him.

After class Teresa and Newt are at the hall talking, Alby approaches them.

“Hey, I just want to say that I’m happy for you. That you came out like that, it was crazy, but cool”

“Thanks”

“And nice because I kind of have a crush on you and I always wondered if I had shot and now I'm glad to know I do”

Newt looks at Teresa.

“I...”

“Of course you have a shot”, Teresa says. “He always talked about how hot you gotta after middle school”

“Teresa!”

“It’s true, you look great”

“Thanks”, Alby says shy.

“You two should go out together”

“We should!”, Alby says happy.

“No, we shouldn’t”, Newt says.

“Why not?”, Alby asks.

“It’s not you, it’s...”, he spots Brenda and Thomas walking down the hall holding hands. “At least let me think about it, okay?”

“Okay, you call me”, Alby looks so confident as he leaves, Newt really starts to think about it.

“I can’t do that”, he says to Teresa.

“Yes, you can”

“It’s complicate”

“Why? Because of Thomas?”

“What do you know about that?”

“I know everything, I mean, I know that you were more than friends”

“And why didn’t you tell me? How did you find out?”

“Long story short, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I was the one who found the note and I told Brenda about it, I know that I shouldn’t, but I was angry about it” 

“I can’t believe, you have any idea what you did?”

“I do and I feel so guilt, but I was so hurt”

“And that gave you the right to out us?”

“No it didn’t and I didn’t mean to, if I knew what Brenda was capable of, I though I could trust her”

“And I thought I could trust you”, Newt leaves upset.

Teresa is walking back home when she looks inside a store and sees a bag of gummy bears, she remembers when they were kids, whatever Newt was upseted his mother would buy him a bag of gummy bears and he would share it with her and Thomas. It was moments like this that made their bond seems eternal.

She went to Newt’s house, his father opened the door and told her to come in.

“Hi”, Newt was laying on his bed listening to music.

“Hi”

“Are you still angry with me? I brought gummy bears”, she shows him the bag.

Newt stayed in silence for a while.

“Come here”, she sits on the bed. “You know my weak spot, don't you?”

“Yes”, she smiles.

“I’ll accept it, but with one condition”

“Anything”

“I get the whole bag”

He takes the bag from her, she can't stop smiling.


	3. Part III (Final)

Newt and Alby are out and about, they just watched a movie and are talking about it while walking through the city.

"Did you like it?”, Alby asks.

“Yes, it was less cheesy than I expected”, he smirks.

“I’m glad you accepted to go out with me”

“I’m happy too, I wasn’t sure about it, but you are not only handsome, but also funny, I may fall in love like that”, they share a moment.

By his surprise they end up bumping into Thomas and Brenda.

“Hey, guys”, Brenda says.

“Hi”, Alby says with a smile.

“Are you on a date?”, she asks.

“Yeah, kind of”, Newt says.

“You two?”, Thomas questions.

“Alby asked me out, I said yes”, he stares Thomas.

“I hope you are enjoying it”, Alby says.

“I have so far”, Newt holds his hand.

Alby is taken aback by it. Thomas look at their hands.

“It’s great, we are also on a date, right, Tommy?”, Brenda squeezed his arm.

Newt wanted to roll his eyes so bad, but he kept a poker face.

“Right, we came to see the new movie”

“Oh, we just watched that!”, Alby says

“Is it good? I thought it could be cheesy", Thomas asks. 

“It’s great”

“Is it, Newt?”, Thomas look into his eyes.

“I’m not really into that type of movie”, Newt turn his face away.

“I thought you liked it”, Alby seems worried.

“I did, but because I was with you, I didn’t care much about the movie”, Newt says.

Thomas inhales.

“Well, we don’t want take your time and we need to go”, he says.

“See you!”, Brenda is very friendly and she could be a good friend if she wasn't so self centered.

The two couples followed in diferent directions.

“So, what with the hand holding?”, Alby asks.

“I’m sorry, shouldn’t I?”

“No, it’s just, I wasn’t sure where it was going, but now, you gave me hope and I want know if I should keep them or not?”

Newt thinks for a while.

“Yeah, you should”

Thomas still looked back a couple of times watching they disappear in the dark.

“Seems like your boyfriend is not your boyfriend anymore”

“He deserves to be able to be open about who he loves, what I can’t really give to him right now”

“I was feeling bad for blackmailing you like that, but now... I think that what you did to Newt is way worse” 

“I guess I’m a jerk too”, Thomas looks sad.

Newt and Alby are in front of Newt’s house.

“Have you talked with your parents?, Alby asks.

“Yes, they have been quite supportive”

“That’s great, it’s nice when our parents accept us for who we are”

“Yes”, they look at each other. “So, do you want to go out with me again or has magic gone?”

“No, I definatelly want do it again, what you say about that?”

“I’ll check my calendar”

Alby laughs, he grabs Newt’s face and kiss him on the lips.

“Sorry, I guess I should have asked”

“Don’t feel sorry about that”, Newt gives him a quick peck.

Newt goes back to his house and Alby watches as he enter.

***

Newt tells Teresa about the date.

“You two kissed?”

“Yes”

“And how was that?”

“Good, he is a good kisser”

“You don’t sound too happy about that”

“It’s just, he is not Tommy”

“Have you spoked with Tom lately?”

“No, but I bumped into him and Brenda yesterday”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he looked so different, he barely made eye contact”

“I don’t get it, why can’t he just be honest about who he is like you are being”

“Because he is afraid. I really don’t know what I can do for him, I tried everything”

“You know, I was a little angry when I learned about you two, because you didn’t tell me, but then I realized how hard it must have been to you hide how you feel and not be able to express your love for Thomas. So many things started to make sense”

“I really wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t and you have your feelings for Thomas too, I didn’t want to break your heart”

“I don’t have feelings for Thomas anymore, I moved on”

”Really?”

“Yeah, I think I liked the idea of us together, but now, I see that it was just a idea, not reality”

“Good, can you teach me how to get over him?”

Teresa hugs him.

Weeks Later

It was prom time and Teresa was trying on her prom dress, she hears Brenda’s voice from outside and goes out of her dressing room.

“Hi, Brenda”, she cross her arms.

“Hi, Teresa. Wow, you look gorgeous!”

“So, you are still preteding to be Thomas’s girlfriend”

“Who says we are pretending?”

“He is my childhood friend, I know him”

“Look, I didn’t want to go through with it, it was fun at the beggining, but when I saw how many people were getting actually hurted, I called it off, I mean, I didn’t have proof to start, you were the one with the note. But Thomas wanted to keep it going and I saw that as favour to a friend, I really didn’t want to be the bad girl in that situation”

“Thomas wanted it to keep going?”

“It was his idea in the first place, I just wanted a date to the prom”

Teresa was shooked to hear that.

“I can’t believe it!”

“Guess you don’t know him that well”

***

Teresa was looking stunning in her prom dress and with curly hair, Minho goes to pick her up.

“Wow”, he says.

“Thanks”, she smiles.

“Let’s take the picture”, her mother says.

They smile for the picture. And so does Newt and Alby, Chuck, Newt’s younger brother observes them.

“You two look like penguins”, Chuck says.

“That’s because we are gay like penguins”, Newt jokes.

“Isaac!”, his mother calls him out.

“What? That’s the truth”

“Why can’t I go to the prom?”, Chuck frows.

“Because you are too young, don’t worry, your time will come”, his mother says.

“Besides, you wouldn’t want to steal the spolight from your brother, would you?”, his dad says tickling Chuck.

Newt and Alby look at each other.

“You look so cute together, my baby looks like a proper man and soon will be graduating”, she hugs him with tears in her eyes.

“Oh, woman, stop being so damn dramatic, our sons are growing up, deal with it. Right, Newt?”

“Right, dad”, he smiles.

“Let’s go?”, Alby asks.

“Yes”

Thomas is at the school's gate, he hated his fancy clothes, but Brenda made him wear it. He sees when Teresa arrives with Minho.

“Hi”

“Hi”

“Can I talk with you for a minute?”

“Sure”, she looks at Minho. “Do you mind?”

“No, I’ll wait you inside”

Minho entered the school while Teresa and Thomas go to a more private place to talk.

“I’m sorry that I kind of shut you down”

“You just stopped talking with us, it looked like you were ashamed of being our friend”

“It’s not that...”

“So, what is it? Why you stop talking with Newt after he came out and why did you have the idea to pretend to be dating Brenda and lie that it was hers?”

“You know about that?”

“Yes, Tom, I know about that, even if you don’t tell me stuff”

“It’s just that the idea of coming out scares me, I don’t want people to be looking at me any different”

“I thought I knew you, but now I don’t, do you care about you childhood friends at all? Do you remember what we used to be?”

“Of course, I do”

“I used to have feelings for you, you know? I admired you, I thought you were cool, brave, but now... You are a scared child, hurting people because you are to afraid of getting hurt, but guess what? Getting hurt is part of life, now you have to choose between being lonely and sad or just be yourself”

“You make it sound so easy”

“Because it’s, but if it isn’t, I’ll still be here to help you out and support you no matter what”

“Why didn’t I fall in love with you instead?”

“Funny, because I wished I could have fell in love with Newt, I know he would never be able to love me back, but at least he would be honest about it and not use me like you do”

“I never used you”

“Because you never really saw me”

“I see you now”

“Good”, her voice almost cracks.

Thomas holds her face and place a soft kiss on her lips.

“Will you ever forgive me for being a jerk to you and Newt?”

“I may, now Newt? You better ask him yourself”, she walk away slowly leaving Thomas with his own thoughts.

Newt and Alby arrive to the prom, they go talk with Teresa and Minho, Thomas observe them from afar.

“You miss them”, Brenda says as they dance.

“They are my friends”

“And him?”

“He is happy now, I can’t take it away from him”

“But you already did it when you denied him”

"He desserves better"

"And why can't you be better?"

"It's weird"

"What?"

"That you and I became friends in the middle of all that"

"I guess I can be a good friend if I try"

Thomas places his face on Brenda’s shoulder, Newt look at them.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?”, Alby asks.

“What?”

“I know you like him and he likes you too. It must be hard not be with the one you love mainly on prom”

“I’m sorry, I wish it could work, I really did, but you are right, I still have feelings for him and I can't like you like that”

“It's okay, it was good while it lasted, just give me one dance and that’ll be enough”

“I can do that”

They go to the dance floor.

“You like Star Wars?”, Teresa asks Minho as they dance.

“Of course, it’s a classic”

“What is your favorite?”

“Empire Strikes Back”

“It’s my favorite too”

“Maybe we could watch it together someday”

“Maybe... Wait... I see what you are doing there, are you asking me out?”

Minho looks surprised.

“I thought we were already on a date, isn’t it a date?”

She thinks about it.

“I think so, is it?”

Minho chuckles.

“Right, let’s make it better. Teresa, do you want to go out with me?”

“Yes, Minho, I do”

She slowly lean in for a kiss, they lock lips and stay like that for a while.

“Okay, students, time to announce the Queen and King of the prom”, the principal says on the stage.

Everybody sits to watch the annoucement. The candidates go up to the stage.

“And the prom king is... Thomas Glader”

Everybody claps, Brenda looks excited. Teresa is also happy for her friend, Newt is still sad for what happened between them.

“And the prom queen is...”, she reads the paper and her expression fades. “Isaac Notwen”

The whole room is silent.

“Yo, Newt, take your crow”, Gally says in a mocking tone.

“I can’t believe it”, Teresa says.

“He must be behind it”, Minho says.

“You don’t have to”, Alby whispers to Newt.

“I have, for people like us, I can’t let people like him think they can shame us for being who we are”

Newt goes to the stage. The principal puts the crow on Newt’s head.

“Sorry about that”, Thomas whispers to him.

“No worries”, Newt says.

Thomas takes the microphone “I just want to say something, first, Gally, you are a jerk, but that’s okay because people like you will clean the floor where people like Newt step on”, Gally doesn’t look too happy about it. “And second, I have a announcement to make”

“Tommy?”, Newt looks worried. “What are you doing?”

“What I should’ve done a long time ago", he looks at the crowd and takes a deep breath. "I’m bisexual and I’m in a love with Isaac Notwen”

“Wow”, everyone exclaims.

“I knew it”, someone says.

“I’m sorry for being so stupid and care so much about what people like Gally says, I was wrong and maybe now it’s too late, but I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t do anything. Newt, I hope you can forgive me someday, but if you can’t, I think I deserve it”

Newt grabs the microphone.

“Hey everybody, thanks for voting”, the room starts to feel at ease. “I always wanted to be a queen”, everybody laughs. “Well, Tommy... You don’t deserve it, but I forgive you. Because I love you and as they say, love makes us do stupid things”, he smiles.

“I love you too”, they kiss.

Everybody cheers.

“Okay, okay”, the principal says awkwardly. “And now, behold the tradition of our 2016 prom king and queen here in their first dance”.

Thomas grabs Newt’s hand and they go to the dancefloor, they dance in the middle of the circle of people staring at them.

“That’s a little bit scary”

“But it feels good, doesn’t it?”, Newt ask.

“It feels great”

They touch foreheads giving each other esquimo kisses, people seem to already have got used to the new couple, Minho slaps Gally on the head. Alby is happy for Newt, but still feels a little bit down until he sees a cute boy staring at him, he winks at him. Teresa looks at Brenda and they share a smile.

People start to dance and the two boys in the middle of the dancefloor are just two boys covered by the crowd, never happier and finally free.


	4. The Missing Link

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part of the story that I was too lazy to write, but came around and decided to. Focusing on Thomas and his feeling through the days leading to prom. (It's not a new chapter, it's a special one)

Thomas was sitting at the bench when Brenda approched him.

_ Not only are you a good player, but you als swing both ways? – She jokes.

He looks up confused.

_ What?

_ I heard about your little secret, you and Newt, what a shock.

His face fell.

_ Who told you that?

_ A little bird.

_ You didn’t tell anyone, did you?

_ Of course, not. If I did, what would I have to blackmail you?

_ Blackmail me?

_ You will go to the prom with me and you’ll be by my side when they announciate my name as the queen of the prom.

_ I won’t

_ Why not?

_ I already promise Teresa that I would take her.

_ I don’t care, as if she would want go with you anyway. Besides, you won’t know certain people to know about your little bi-curious adventure.

_ You mean Gally?

_ Can you imagine if  he found out? He would turn your life in a hell.

He looks around.

_ Okay, okay... You want to make it, let’s make it right, if someone knows about it, I can’t risk let it spread.

_ Right? – She still didn’t follow his thought.

_ Let’s date.

_ What?

 _ Fake date, so that if the rumor is out it will be less believable.

 

* * *

 

 Thomas stopped picking Newt’s calls, he couldn’t bring himself to, not with what he was about to do with him.

But he wasn’t ready, not now. Gally always picked on him when they were playing, he always found excuses to bump into him and get him a few bruises, if he knew about him and Newt, that would be it, like Brenda said, he would turn his life into hell, he just couldn’t risk becoming the joke of the soccer team, being excluded, be the different one.

Thomas and Brenda planned to go to the movies together, he didn’t want to have to pretend off the school, but she had a pretty good weapon against him.

That’s when he saw Newt and Alby looking pretty cosy together.

_ Looks like your boyfriend isn’t your boyfriend anymore.

It hurted, see Newt and not be able to be honest, all he wanted was to be with him, but he didn’t have the balls to just say it, why was that so hard?

_ Hey, queer. – Gally said passing by him on the boys shower.

_ Why can’t you just leave me alone?

_ Did I hurt your feeling? Funny, when you are the one going around and just getting everything so easily. Am I making life hard for you? Good!

_ Why do you hate me so much?

 _ Because I know that you are a fake, I can see right through you, you are garbage.

 _ You have issues, man. – Minho said. – Leave him alone.

 _ Did he fuck your girl, Minho? No? So shut up!

 _ Is it still about Annie?

 _ Yes, it’s still about Annie, I gotta over that bitch, but you... I thought we were friends, now I know you can never trust a Glader.

 _ It was two years ago. I was different... – Gally finished dressing up and left.

 _ Were you? – Minho.

_ I changed. – Or at least he thought.

 _ Sorry, Thomas, but once a fuckboy, always a fuckboy, if you really changed, maybe you should make it more obvious. – Minho says.

 

* * *

 

Thomas was going to Newt’s house, he was going to talk with him, tell him that he was sorry for being a jerk, that he want to make things different, that he loves him, oh my, he loves him so freaking much and it doesn’t matter anymore, Gally could come at him as much as he liked, but all Thomas wanted was to be with Newt, to be him.

But instead when he was close to Newt’s house he saw Alby at his gate and they exchanged kisses as they left.

He was sure he had lost him, Newt was happy with someone else, whatever they had was over, Thomas felt so stupid, all because he was a coward.

He is drinking at the park, he looks at his contacts, no one he really could talk to, he texts Brenda and soon regrets, but it was already too late and no long after she appears and sits by his side.

_ Bad day?

_ I’m a fucking idiot!

 _ No arguing on that, you know, I thought about it and what we are doing? It’s not nice, I want to stop it.

 _ You can’t!

 _ Why not? I started it, I should finish it.

_ No, Newt is happy with Alby and Gally still hates me for something that happened ages ago, Teresa thinks I’m a jerk and I’m, I need someone right now, someone that doesn’t hate me.

Brenda looks around.

_ And who would that be?

_ I wasn’t good to you either, I know.

_ Yeah, you wasn’t, you used me, you were my first, you know? I thought what we had was special, but soon I realized, I was just one and that made me so angry.

_ I’m sorry...

She looks at him, he seems to mean it.

_ Me too. – She holds his hand. – So, you still want do it?

 _ Yes, let’s go to the prom!

 

* * *

 

They were at the prom, Teresa had told some truths on his face and he was grateful for it, now seeing Newt with Alby hurted even more, they should be there together, it should be him to hold him and dance with him, kiss his lips and whispers sweet words in his ears, as they did, when no one else was looking.

 _ You miss them. – Brenda says, it’s not a question, it’s a affirmation.

 _ They are my friends.

Teresa, since they were born, Newt since he was eight years old, they used to be called “Los Tres”, what means “The Three” in spanish, they were inseparable and now they were broke apart.

 _ Why don’t you come out? – Brenda asks. – It can’t be that hard, Newt did it.

 _ So Gally would find ways to get me kicked out of the team? Have the boys staring at me, wondering if I was checking they out in the shower? Being called names constantly is already bad, I can’t let him stain something as beautiful as what me and Newt had.

 _ So you’ll keep hiding it?

 _ Does it even matter? Newt made me different, but I don’t have him anymore.

 

“And the prom queen is...”, she reads the paper and her expression fades. “Isaac Notwen”

 

Fuck, Thomas think. He couldn’t believe it was happening, no, not to him. Gally had just gone way too far.

Thomas took a deep breathe, it was now or never, he looked at the crowd staring at the two boys wearing crows, fuck it, he thought.


End file.
